Volunteers, including approximately 150 students from Metro State, wait in line at the Family Project Homeless Connect at the Pepsi Center on Friday, Oct. 9, 2009.

More than 600 families who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless were assisted with services like rapid re-housing, basic medical exams, food stamps and legal advice last Friday at Family Project Homeless Connect (FPHC), thanks in part to more than 150 volunteers from Metro State who helped them access the services they needed.

“The Mayor’s Office was very grateful for Metro State’s involvement in Family Project Homeless Connect,” said Randi Smith, co-director of the College’s new Center for Urban Connections, which organized the Metro State volunteers. “We provided the lion’s share of volunteers, and they all did a great job.”

FPHC, held at the Pepsi Center Oct. 9, provided a one-stop shop for families to help them stop struggling and start thriving. Metro State volunteers provided one-on-one “client support” at the event, helping them prioritize their needs and escorting them to the services that would best assist them.

Smith said that the aim of involving the College in FPHC was threefold: to help out the community of Denver, to provide a good service-learning experience for students, and to increase the level of direct community engagement in which the College participates. She added that it also increased Metro State’s visibility in the community.

Metro State student Phyllis Freeman (right) assists Jennifer Whitehead. Whitehead has been living in transitional housing for the past two months.

Sophomore Joe Hensel said it was his first time participating in such an event. “It was eye-opening to see how many people are struggling with housing,” Hensel said, “and valuable to meet people who aren’t as fortunate as, say, Metro State students. It made me just a bit more grateful.”

Freshman Angelica Piedrasanta said that although she had volunteered before, she had never done so with the homeless population. “I learned that many of the stereotypes that we have just don’t apply,” she said.

Smith said the Center for Urban Connections is already in discussions with the Mayor’s Office about how the College can assist again with a similar event in the spring. The Center does not anticipate a problem finding volunteers: In a survey of Metro State participants in Friday’s program, all respondents said they’d do it again.

Project Homeless Connect – a partnership between Denver’s Road Home and the Mile High United Way – is one facet of the City of Denver's 10-year plan to end homelessness.